The Darkest Night Brings The Brightest Dawn
by waterydomestic
Summary: Post Sectionals an accident changes everything
1. Chapter 1

**Title-The Darkest Night Brings The Brightest Dawn 1/7**

**Characters-Finn/Rachel**

**Summary-Post Sectionals an accident changes everthing  
**

**Disclaimers-No, I do not own Glee. Also I am not a doctor so please cut me a little slack on the medical stuff;)  
**

Rachel sat with the rest of glee club in the McKinley High auditorium waiting for rehearsal to begin. The rest of glee club minus Finn Hudson that is. Rachel had hoped, hell they had all hoped that their rendition of 'My Life Would Suck Without You' for Mr Schuester would signal the reintegration of Glee. That it would perhaps lead to some sort of reconciliation between Puck, Quinn and Finn. However they were all to be disappointed. In the two weeks since sectionals glee was the same but not the same. Finn had been present and involved but an indefinable something was missing. The spark was gone. He seemed happy to take a lower profile, rarely putting himself forward for solos.

She looked up as Mr Schuester appeared his eyes dancing from side to side nervously looking somewhat distressed.

"Hey guys settle down!" He said forcefully and the tone of his voice brought a stop to all the conversations previously taking place.

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news. I err ...I've just had a phone call from Finn's mom. Apparently there was an accident last night. A car accident."

Shocked gasps filled the room. Rachel felt her heart sink into her toes and could already feel the onset of tears. Please let him be okay, please let him be okay she repeated over and over in her head.

Kurt was the first to speak.

"He's okay though right" he said in a panicked voice "Finn's okay Mr Schue?"

Mr Schuester looked devastated as he said,

"It's ..it's pretty bad guys. He's in the hospital...but from what his mom said it's pretty serious."

"But he's going to be okay. It's serious but he's going to be okay!" Puck shouted as if his conviction could somehow hold the power of truth. Rachel looked across at him and could see that next to him Quinn had turned a deathly white. She looked like Rachel felt. Like her world had just crumbled around her.

"Let's hope so. Mrs Hudson said that Finn's in intensive care and isn't really aware of visitors." Mr Schue was forced to admit.

"What do you mean he isn't aware?" asked Kurt.

"He's still unconscious Kurt. He has been since the accident. The doctors don't know when he'll wake up." The 'if he'll wake up' part of that sentence was left unsaid but Rachel was willing to bet that everyone in the room heard it nonetheless.

"Is it okay to go and see him?" Quinn asked in a barely audible tone.

"I think that would be good. I'm sure Mrs Hudson would be glad of the support." Mr Schuester said trying to remain upbeat before he paused and frowned. "But I'm not sure we should all go. We don't want to overwhelm her. Maybe just a couple of us." He sent a questioning look towards Quinn.

Quinn seemed to consider, then realize, what Mr Schue was too thoughtful to say but was hinting at.

"I'm not sure that Finn would want to see me at the moment. Or his mom." With this admission she finally let the tears she had been holding in fall. Turning into the comfort of Puck's chest to sob loudly. Puck put his arms around her to offer what support he could but looked completely lost himself.

"I guess the same applies to me too." He reluctantly confessed.

With this he turned to Rachel. In fact, Rachel realized, seemingly everyone was looking to her. It appeared as if they had all assigned her the role of hospital visitor. While only hours ago it would have delighted her to find that she was considered by the others to be 'close' to Finn, now it only terrified her. What could she say to Finn's mom? Could she really bear to see Finn all broken and bruised? What if he didn't wake up?

The questions were in danger of overwhelming her. No she told herself. Stop thinking so negatively. Finn was going to come through this, and when he did he and Mrs Hudson would need a great deal of support, and she was just the person to provide it. Rachel Berry did not deal in failure and she wasn't about to start now. Holding her head high she announced her plan of action.

"I'll go and let Mrs Hudson know we are all thinking about Finn and will do anything we can to help. Could you give me a ride to the hospital please Mr Schue?" Rachel said mindful of the fact that she didn't consider herself to be any fit state to be taking charge of an automobile at this time.

Mr Schuester agreed with a nod of his head. He looked around the room to see if anyone else had anything else to add.

Quinn caught his eye and hesitantly said, "Tell him....tell him..." before words failed her and she again turned to Puck.

With shining eyes Puck tried to continue for her. "If he...when he.. tell him..tell him that we're ..y'know. I dunno..just.." Before he finished defeated.

Rachel nodded and made for the exit with Mr Schuester on her trail. Neither seemed to know what to say as they walked down the hallway, through the doors and into the faculty parking lot.

Once in the car the silence was beginning to reach deafening point. Rachel had managed to hold herself together so far, deciding that strength was required from her now more than ever. But the reality of the situation was starting to engulf her. The reality of what was facing Finn, and the reality of the fact that she was a 16 year old girl with only one true friend. One who at this moment was, and yes it sounded melodramatic in her head, fighting for his life. Actually fighting for his life! How could this be?

If her mind continued to go down these avenues then Rachel knew she would be no good to anyone. Certainly no good to Mrs Hudson. And Rachel was sure that at the moment that was the one thing she could do for Finn. Try to be there for his mom. Finn had enough on his plate right now and so did his mom. God what must the woman be thinking? What must she be feeling? Rachel was barely holding it together and she had only known Finn a few months. For Mrs Hudson this was her only child. She'd already lost a husband, to lose a child as well would be unimaginable. Rachel needed to regain her focus.

"What exactly did Mrs Hudson say again? I mean what happened and what is happening?" She asked, seeking some sort of clarity, some explanation.

If Mr Schuester was annoyed at having to repeat himself he didn't show it. If anything he seemed to welcome the opportunity to go over what he knew, such as it was, again. Maybe, like Rachel, he needed to get something so unbelievable straight in his mind.

"Last night Finn was picking up something at the store for his mom. He called and told her he was going to swing by the bowling alley for an hour or so. But he must not have got there because about 45 minutes later the police stopped by his house to tell his mom that there had been an accident."

Rachel's mind couldn't help flashing back to her bowling alley 'date' with Finn. What should have been a magical night had quickly been sullied by subsequent revelations and realizations. Now the venue itself was further tarnished by association with the accident that had befallen Finn. Snapping back into the present Rachel found herself confused.

"He's such a cautious driver though Mr Schue. I've never even seen him go even one mile an hour over the speed limit. I just wouldn't have thought he'd get into an accident."

"No, well there's some talk of charges for the other driver. Apparently he was trying to overtake Finn, a car was coming in the opposite direction so he swerved back into Finn's lane and Finn swerved off the road."

"Was anyone else hurt?" Rachel asked.

Mr Schuester seemed surprised by the question. "Um..I don't know."

"Finn will want to know." Rachel whispered to herself. Even if the accident wasn't his fault Finn would still want to know if anyone else was hurt. Rachel was sure of that.

"Yeah", Mr Schue sighed, "I expect he will. Anyway his mom didn't go into too much detail. I know that Finn's got a broken arm."

"Which one?" Rachel asked thinking about his quarterbacking prospects.

"Not sure." Mr Schue replied. Sensing that Rachel wasn't going to illuminate him as to why this was important he continued, "Also some damage to his ankle but probably not a break. A couple of busted ribs." Rachel winced. Broken arm, possibly fractured ankle, broken ribs. Oh what had he done to himself? She was brought out of her reverie by Mr Schue's next words.

"What has the doctors most concerned though is that he hasn't regained consciousness. There appears to be some swelling of the brain."

Rachel gasped. "You didn't say that earlier! You just said that he wasn't awake yet."

"I know, but I didn't want to worry everyone more than I already had." He reluctantly explained.

Rachel nodded. That made sense.

"So what are they going to do about Finn's brain? The swelling I mean."

"I think first they're going to determine the extent and then decide whether they need to take any measures to alleviate the pressure."

"Like brain surgery you mean." Rachel stated flatly. "Finn might need brain surgery. He might be..."

Rachel couldn't bring herself to say that Finn might have suffered brain damage, that he might be brain damaged. Why had she thought she could handle this? Why did she feel the need to volunteer to be glee's representative at the hospital? She was always so sure of herself. But this? This was too much for her. She wasn't up to this. She wasn't even sure she wanted to be up to this.

Her friend was battered and bruised and broken and he might not wake up. Ever!

Suddenly she realized that she didn't want to go to the hospital anymore. She just wanted to go home. Go home, curl up in her dads arms, and cry her heart out.

Help Mrs Hudson? Who was she kidding? How could she help her? What could she possibly say? This wasn't some singing competition where a rousing motivational speech could help inspire the team to victory. This was Finn's life. She wasn't some all conquering star, she was a scared girl. Help Mrs Hudson? Rachel wasn't sure she would even be able to look at the woman.

Sensing her panic Mr Schue reached across with his right hand and rested it on Rachel's shoulder.

"Hey now Rachel. We don't know yet how bad the swelling is, or what the options are. I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Lets have a little faith." He did his best to reassure her.

The words seemed to temporarily have the desired effect. Rachel managed to dial back the mini panic attack that she had been on the verge of. It still felt too close for comfort though so she decided to change the subject.

"He really looks up to you, you know." She said looking straight ahead. "Finn, I mean, he really looks up to you."

"Really?" Mr Schuester inquired glancing at Rachel in time to see her answering nod.

"Well. I think highly of him too." He admitted.

"He's your favourite isn't he?" Rachel couldn't help adding. Not because she was jealous or annoyed by it. In fact she'd always thought it was rather sweet how the two men had always looked out for each other. She just wanted to see if Mr Schuester would acknowledge it. She wanted him to agree that Finn was special for some reason. She really needed to hear it.

"You know I don't have favourites Rachel." Mr Schue answered automatically causing Rachel to roll her eyes.

"Come on Mr Schue." Rachel argued. "It's obvious, and completely understandable, you were the one who recruited him to start with and set this whole glee juggernaut into motion. He was like, what do they call it, oh oh he was your first time pick, or first round pick or something. I don't really understand sports but you definitely drafted him top." Rachel glanced at Mr Schuester and was alarmed to see a pained and stormy expression on the teachers face. He looked angry and ashamed.

"Mr Schue I didn't mean anything bad about it I swear. I just meant that it was nice that you saw something special in Finn and persuaded him to take a chance on glee."

Way to go Rachel. How are you going to be of any use to Mrs Hudson when you're already upsetting Mr Schue who was usually pretty laid back? If anything too laid back in Rachel's opinion.

"Persuaded?" He scoffed. "Oh I persuaded him alright" Mr Schuester said mockingly confusing Rachel. He seemed angry at himself not her.

"Do you really want to know how I persuaded Finn to join glee? I'll tell you. I persuaded him by planting drugs in his locker and telling him that it was the end of any dreams of a football scholarship. That the only way of avoiding the transgression appearing on his permanent record was to serve out his punishment by taking part in glee."

Rachel was shocked into speechlessness. Mr Schuester would never do something so dishonest, would he? Finn was only in glee club because of blackmail! This couldn't be true. Rachel wasn't sure she could deal with this on top of everything else. Couldn't Finn ever catch a break?

"So Rachel do you really think Finn would look up to me if he knew that? It's the worst thing I've ever done and it's was to someone who in no way deserved it and its ended up here, with him in hospital and two of his best friends too scared to visit him."

Rachel could see the whites of the mans knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel. Her mind was in a spin. Blackmail? That was why Finn was in glee? Because Mr Schuester had set him up then blackmailed him? She looked across at Mr Schuester and he seemed like a broken man.

"Look what you did was...reprehensible and not befitting your duty as teacher in locus parentis. But Finn loves glee. No matter how it started the end result is that he loves glee. He came through for us at sectionals not because of blackmail, or permanent records, or scholarships, he came through because he loves glee. You _gave_ that to him. And it may have been motivated in part by selfishness, but you know Finn Mr Schue, and I think even then that you knew that he would love glee. You could see it in him Mr Schue just like the first time he sang I could see it in him and it's only grown from there." Rachel said passionately, desperate for the teacher to understand.

"Quinn and Puck happened before glee. Everything that happened still would have happened only at least now he's got other things he loves in his life. It might be selfish but I'm not sorry you got him into glee. And its got nothing to do with sectionals or regionals or nationals. It's because of Finn. I got to meet Finn. And spend time with him and talk to him and laugh with him and sing with him and dance with him. And _kiss_ him. And I don't regret that happening one little bit. I'll never regret it. Its one of the best things that ever happened to me. So there. Finn will recover from this and he'll need all our help to do it. He doesn't need your guilt he just needs you to look out for him like you've always done. And... and... and I still say he's your favourite so there." She finished.

Mr Schue's eyes were still shining but he looked determined and relieved rather that ashamed or angry.

"Thank you Rachel." He quietly said.

Relieved Rachel settled back into her seat. Perhaps she could do this after all. One crisis had been averted but the next one was the big one. They were pulling up to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2/7**

Kurt glanced at the clock situated at the rear of the choir room. It had been roughly ten minutes since Rachel and Mr Schuester had left to go to the hospital to visit Finn. Or, more accurately, to see Finn's mom, because from what Mr Schuester said it didn't seem as if Finn would be receiving visitors any time soon.

Kurt was dimly aware of Mercedes chattering away beside him. Speaking to him probably. He really wasn't paying attention though. Mercedes had moved passed the shock they had all felt and was careering into excitement, which in itself was probably a symptom of shock. Not excitement in the sense that she was actively _enjoying_ the drama around her. Excitement more in the way that they had all been thrust into something unusual. Though, Kurt mused, car accidents weren't exactly unprecedented.

No, Mercedes was caught up in something that was thus far beyond her experience and it was always exciting to be caught up in something like that. Exciting in the sense that adrenalin was flowing, heart rates were increasing. Mercedes was talking a dime a dozen because she probably didn't know what else to do with all this energy coursing through her veins.

Kurt didn't for a second believe that this in any way meant that Mercedes didn't care about Finn or was in some way getting off on all this unexpected drama. Kurt knew only too well just how sensitive and considerate Mercedes could be.

When he had 'come out' to her, finally saying out loud the words he'd used to describe himself in his head for so long, he couldn't have wished for a better, more genuine or more supportive response. Her response had played a big part in him finally mustering the courage to also tell his dad that he was gay. She had given him the strength to believe that he could say those words and the sky wouldn't necessarily fall in on him as a result.

So he could fully understand and forgive her reaction now. The crucial difference between her and Kurt though was that Kurt was pretty sure that Mercedes had not yet thought through to the next stage yet. She could only talk now because she had yet to really consider that Finn might die. She knew the accident was serious but Kurt was certain that she didn't yet believe that she might never see Finn again. They were all so young and alive and indestructible that it would take a little time to process through to the idea that Finn might not recover, that this was it, he'd had all the time he was going to get.

That concept, that Finn may die, that was what Mercedes hadn't got to yet. That place was the first place that Kurt jumped to. Which was why he wasn't talking now. Why he was trying to block out his best friends voice. People in hospital didn't always get better and death wasn't just reserved for the old. This was the place that Kurt had jumped to as soon as the words 'accident' and 'pretty bad' and 'intensive care' and ' hasn't woken up yet' had registered in his brain.

Thinking about death meant thinking about his mom, and thinking about his mom meant crying. It should mean smiling too. Smiling for all the good times they shared. But the ending had been so painful, and so final, that smiling was never his response. He knew he had to get his mind on other things before the feelings overwhelmed him. So he did what he always did when he wanted to stop thinking about himself. He thought about others.

Kurt didn't mean thinking of others in a kumbaya smile on your brothers everywhere way. He meant really try to imagine what was going on inside people's heads. Figure out what they were really feeling. Already beginning to feel the threat of tears receding, already breathing a little easier, Kurt began focusing on the various reactions of the rest of glee club.

The more he was able to concentrate on them and their reactions the less time he would spend thinking about Finn. About Finn lying in a hospital bed just like someone else he cared about had lain in a hospital bed. About Finn dying in a hospital bed, just like someone...No. He refused to think about that. Kurt wasn't going to think about that if he could help it.

Instead, as an exercise in distracting himself, he looked across at Santana who looked......pissed off? Then again Santana _always_ looked pissed off. It was like her default setting. But while her expression was the same one as normal, her body betrayed her anxiety. One of her hands was agitatedly rubbing up and down Brittany's arm who sat alongside her, while her other hand was kneading soothing circles on the blond girls back. All the while Santana's foot was tapping furiously on the floor.

So she wasn't as unaffected as Kurt had at first assumed. Then again, he mused, her and Finn probably went way back. Brittany too for that matter. Jocks and cheerleaders. They'd both known Finn for longer than he had. Aside from Puck they'd probably known him the longest. It just seemed weird to think it though.

Kurt knew in his head that Finn was a jock, but it was just so easy to forget that when they were in glee. With Santana, Brittany, Quinn, and Puck Kurt never forgot that they were cheerios or jocks. Popular kids. Top of the food chain. With Finn though Kurt would forget all the time. Until he'd see him hanging out in the hall, exchanging high fives, with kids who had previously deposited Kurt in the dumpster, and Kurt would remember and think ohhh that's right, Finn's part of _that _crowd.

Artie and Tina were huddled together. Which at one time Kurt wouldn't have seen as noteworthy at all. Only clearly _something_ had gone on there at some point in the last few weeks because what at one time would have been a run of the mill occurrence had become rarer and rarer. Sightings of Artie and Tina in close proximity that was. Kurt guessed that at times of stress people reverted to what they knew, and Tina knew Artie and Artie knew Tina. How those two weren't a couple already Kurt had no idea. Like either of them could do better. Perhaps now wasn't the time for to be bitchy, but really.

Anyway Tina was leaning down close to Artie looking completely miserable, like someone had killed her puppy miserable, while Artie spoke softly to her looking even tenser than he had immediately after the juvenile delinquent hijack of 'Proud Mary' at sectionals.

Kurt reflected that Artie had been the catalyst for the real start of glee club. Finn wheeling him in, still managing to look hot despite the pit stains marking his football shirt with his helmet in hand, saying he wanted to be in lame ass glee club with them. Bringing the music with him like a less sinister pied piper. That had been the start. The original 6 as Kurt liked to think of them. Well he really liked to think of them as the original 5, but Rachel just wouldn't go away, so 6 it was.

Kurt next turned his attention to the elephants in the room. Puck and Quinn. Quinn and Puck. The ones everyone had sort of been avoiding looking at for the past couple of weeks. Quinn's head was still buried in Puck's chest. Where it had been for the past, Kurt glanced at the clock, 15 minutes. She was still crying, just like she had for the last 15 minutes. Kurt knew from experience that tears took a long time to run out. Longer than 15 minutes anyway. Sometimes sleep was the only thing that ended them. And even then it was only a temporary reprieve much like a rain delay. The game would however almost inevitably resume shortly.

Was she crying out of guilt or out of love? Probably both. She loved Finn and she hurt him. Incredibly badly. And now she was probably thinking that she couldn't ever make it right. Not that she could have anyway. I mean she skanked around with Finn's best friend and then made Finn believe he was going to be a daddy. That was soap opera worthy dastardliness. Kurt almost respected it in it's epic audacity. But she still probably clung to the hope that at some point Finn would forgive her. And Finn being Finn he probably would have. But now what if he never got the chance? How would Quinn live with that?

As for Puck. Puck who was at this minute doing his best to comfort his best friends ex girlfriend. Kurt actually felt sorry for Puck. A circumstance that Kurt would have confidently predicted would never have come to pass. Out of all the bullies Kurt had suffered at the hands of over the years Puck was the worst and Kurt really really hated him, and it was a measure of just how much he loved glee that he hadn't quit the second Puck joined.

But now? Now Kurt felt sorry for him, in a way he hadn't even when Finn was pummeling his face in pre sectionals. He'd lost his best friend and now he might _really _lose his best friend. Kurt got the feeling that Puck didn't love a whole lot of people but Kurt was pretty sure he loved Finn. He suspected he may just love Quinn as well. After today he might lose both of them. Looking at him it looked like Puck knew that also.

It wasn't Mercedes growing tired of his ill attention that broke him out of his thoughts, it was Matt.

"Are we like supposed to go to next period or what?" He asked the room in general.

Matt and Mike. Eminem. Kurt had forgotten they were even there. Again. He contemplated them for a second before realizing he had absolutely no idea what their take on the whole situation was. Suddenly Kurt felt the need to not be in this room, in this school.

"I don't know what you're doing but I'm going home. I'm not in the mood for school today. Coming?" He asked Mercedes. She looked momentarily unsure but seeing some kind of need or desperation in Kurt's eyes she nodded and stood up linking her arm in his as they exited the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**3/7**

**Disclaimer-No, I do not own Glee**

Mr Schue found a free parking space and brought the car to a stop. He turned off the engine but made no immediate move to open the doors. Rachel wondered if he was as reluctant to start the next leg of their journey as she was. By entering the hospital they were reaffirming the reality of the situation. Somewhere in that building Finn was lying unconscious having suffered terrible injuries. Terrible possibly life threatening injuries, or, with the chance of brain damage, life altering ones.

"If you don't think you can go in there Rachel it's okay." Mr Schue said quietly. Rachel looked across at him and could see nothing but kindness and understanding in his eyes. "I know you and Finn are close. Really close." He emphasized.

For some reason Rachel felt the need to deny this. As if by refuting any special connection between herself and Finn she would miraculously be able to obtain some measure of distance from him and therefore somehow remain immune from being totally overwhelmed by the news they could possibly be about to receive.

"Finn has many friends Mr Schue." She reasoned.

Sure she hoped that Finn had feelings for her other than friendship, but she had spent so long trying to suppress those same feelings within herself that she was wary of anything that would serve to give her false hope that Finn returned her feelings. How many times had she told herself to move on, to accept that Finn would never see her as anything other than as a friend and team mate?

"I'm not saying this to upset you Rachel. Honestly I'm not. It just seems obvious that there _is_ something between you. I'm not saying it's love I'm not even saying it's necessarily romantic. But it's definitely there. We all see it. It's there when you sing together, and it's there when he sticks up for you at glee, and....and..it's just there Rachel." He sighed sounding weary and defeated. "So if you don't think you can do this I understand and I wouldn't think anything less of you."

"Okay." Rachel was still desperately trying to process what Mr Schue was saying. Rachel was finding it harder and harder to repress the feelings she had for Finn. Harder and harder to deny to herself just how special he was to her. Couldn't Mr Schue see that this denial was all that was holding her together right now? If she were to give in to her emotions now how could she possibly face the days ahead? At the same time he was giving her a way out. She could wait in the car while Mr Schue went in alone. She could take the easy way out for once in her life.

"Okay? Um....okay you're going to stay here or okay you're coming in with me?" Mr Schue was confused.

Rachel made an instant decision to stop pretending, stop denying, stop lying to herself. Nobody ever got anything worth having by taking the easy road. She'd always known the truth of her feelings for Finn. She may not ever have been sure of his but she'd always been certain of hers.

"Okay. It's there. Between me and Finn. And okay I'm going in with you. Because..because he needs me and I need him and being anywhere else right now would so not be okay with me."

And with those words Rachel felt a strength rise up from within her and for the first time in the last hour she believed that she could get through whatever was to come. Far from making her vulnerable her acceptance of the truth of her relationship with Finn gave her the armor she would need for the fight ahead.

"Okay." Mr Schue nodded, proud of her determination and resilience. "Ready?" Rachel answered with a nod of her head and opened the passenger side door. Together they walked across the lot to the entrance of the hospital.

For some reason Rachel had steeled herself to be met with a hive of activity. Like some scene from E.R or something, people lying on gurneys, nurses shouting, patients screaming, med students yelling 'stat'. But it wasn't like that. It was surprisingly quiet. Peaceful even. Rachel didn't see any patients at all. In fact it was hard to even imagine that there were any patients in the building. It more resembled the lobby of a budget hotel than a bustling Emergency Room.

Mr Schue went ahead to the main desk. Rachel hung back watching him as he conversed with the middle aged woman at the desk. She prepared herself for some bureaucracy whereby they couldn't get any information because they weren't family and many frustrating conversations trying to find out something, anything, about Finn's condition. Instead after no more than a couple of minutes Mr Schue came over to her and said that the nurse on the desk had told him where they could find Finn's mom. So this was really happening.

They took an elevator up to the 3rd floor, exited, went through a set of doors and found themselves in some sort of a waiting room. It was smaller than Rachel had expected and there were only 3 people present when they entered. A young couple no older than mid twenties occupied the chairs on the left side of the room. Over on the other side towards the rear of the room sat an older lady. Rachel guessed that this was Finn's mom. She was sat on the very edge of her chair, slightly hunched forward, staring at the wall opposite her. The entrance of Mr Schuester and Rachel into the room seemed not to have registered with her yet. Rachel stayed behind Mr Schuester as he approached.

"Mrs Hudson?" He said.

Finn's mom quickly turned her attention from the wall and looked at first eagerly and then with confusion at Mr Schuester. Rachel realized that the woman had probably expected to be faced with a doctor or a nurse. Not a casually dressed man and a 16 year old schoolgirl. Mr Schue explained himself.

"We spoke on the phone? I'm Will Schuester, Finn's teacher. We came to see how Finn is and also to see if there was anything we could do for you." Rachel was impressed with how calm he managed to sound. Calm and caring and sincere. She was even more sure, revelations in the car notwithstanding, that Mr Schue was one of the good guys when all was said and done.

"Oh Mr Schuester, of course. I didn't expect you to...it's so good of you to come." She said distractedly.

Mrs Hudson stood managing a forced smile. She shook Mr Schue's hand.

"Please call me Carole. Finn talks about glee all the time. He loves it. It's so nice to hear him singing around the house again."

At this Mrs Hudson seemed to get a little choked up and she wiped away a couple of tears before saying, "Don't mind me. The slightest thing sets me off at the moment. I'm really glad you came. It will mean a lot to Finn."

"How is Finn?" Rachel couldn't help interjecting. She'd never been the most patient person and her nerves were getting the better of her. Mrs Hudson sent her a questioning look and Rachel couldn't stop herself blurting out,

"Sorry! I didn't mean to...I'm Rachel. I mean my name is Rachel Berry and I'm a friend of Finn's. We're in glee together. It's nice to meet you. Um ...I mean not under these circumstances obviously but I'm sure that Finn will be alright. He's a really strong person." Rachel finished weakly. She had always thought of herself as a composed person but she was quickly coming unraveled here. What must Mrs Hudson think of her? Babbling on like an idiot when calm reflection was required.

Luckily Mrs Hudson seemed to take Rachel's words in her stride.

"Oh Rachel," she said " it's so nice to meet you too, even under these circumstances. Finn's told me so much about you. He says you've helped him so much this year. I've seen a real change in him. He's still Finn, thankfully, but his dreams have gotten bigger and I think I've got you to thank for that." She finished warmly giving Rachel a genuine smile before glancing at Mr Schue.

"You too of course Mr Schuester. Glee has really helped with his self confidence. Everything was going so well, and then. Well what happened with Quinn and ...Noah. It knocked him but he was just starting to get back and he seemed so hopeful, he had all these big plans."

Mrs Hudson looked over to Rachel as if to indicate that she was a part of these plans, then started crying again.

"And then" she sobbed "And then...after everything he's been through lately. It's just too much." She was unable to continue and instead collapsed into sobs as Mr Schuester stepped forward and hugged her.

Rachel herself was crying. Her heart went out to the devastated woman before her. What piece of her heart she had left that wasn't completely shattered that is. Finn had obviously told his mom all about her. And apparently it was all positive. He told his mom that Rachel had helped him this year. Given him confidence. Helped him dream bigger! Rachel saw such greatness in him and the knowledge that she may have helped him to see some of that greatness himself was one of the best gifts she'd ever received.

Mr Schuester released Mrs Hudson from his embrace. The woman smiled her thanks and noticing the picture of distress that was Rachel sought to reassure her. Taking Rachel in her arms she tried to comfort her.

"Rachel, Rachel listen to me. It's bad yes but it's not terrible. He has a broken arm, but it's not his throwing arm, and his ankle is swollen and badly bruised but not broken. His ribs are gonna be sore as well. But the important thing is that the scan showed some swelling on his brain but not as much as they feared. There's a really good chance he won't need surgery at all. He's breathing on his own so that's a good sign as well. They're going to let him rest and see if the swelling goes down with the use of drugs and rest. They'll be monitoring him really carefully over the next 24 hours or so and then they'll do another scan and hopefully the swelling will have receded. If it has then they're very hopeful he'll wake up. So I know it's incredibly scary believe me I'm scared. But I'm also optimistic. I know you are too from what Finn tells me. He says he's seen you overcome all sorts of hurdles and setbacks and still achieve your goals. So have some hope, it's not false hope Rachel. There is good reason to believe he'll be okay."

Rachel still had tears on her cheeks but now instead of feeling terrified and hopeless she was feeling determined. She was amazed at Mrs Hudson's courage and touched that in the midst of such a terrible crisis she could find the patience to try to reassure her. It was time Rachel lived up to Finn's words about her to his mother. She would show the same courage as the woman in front of her.

"I'm beginning to see where Finn gets his leadership qualities from Mrs Hudson. You are completely correct. This is good news. Finn will fight through this. I think he's going to be okay. I really believe that. Give him time and he will start to fix himself. And when he's ready he'll wake up. It's been a tough couple of months and he deserves his rest. Just not too much. We've got regionals to prepare for and we need him." Rachel finished hugging Mrs Hudson to her again. Even Mr Schue looked hopeful.

As they all sat down Mr Schue offered to fetch a couple of coffees for himself and Finn's mom and a juice for Rachel. When he left Mrs Hudson turned to Rachel.

"So Rachel, I've been sitting here waiting and worrying for hours now and I'd like to have something else to think about,or at least try to think about, for a while. Would you mind telling me something about yourself so that I could get to know you a little. I mean all I know for certain is that Finn thinks your 'awesome'" Mrs Hudson said, imitating Finn's voice as she said the word 'awesome', which caused Rachel to let out a small laugh before she quickly covered her mouth with her hand horrified that she would laugh at at time like this. Mrs Hudson just smiled back at her though letting her know that it was okay.

Rachel was shocked and somewhat embarrassed to realize that Finn had spoken about her in such terms. Well, shocked and secretly thrilled. The irony wasn't lost on her that this would have been one of the best days of her life if it wasn't also one of the worst. She fought through her embarrassment however, understanding that Mrs Hudson needed to try to keep the conversation light-hearted.

"Finn is quite correct. I am awesome." Her smile letting Mrs Hudson know that she was kidding.

Although to be fair Rachel thought she _was_ pretty awesome. Of course so was Finn.

Finn's mom let out a hearty chuckle, and in that moment Rachel could easily picture her sharing such laughs with her son.

"Finn's not too bad himself I suppose." Rachel cheekily allowed. Mrs Hudson's eyes seemed to light up even more at that and her expression turned thoughtful.

"He's a good boy," she said fondly, "always such a good boy. After his father...."

Rachel understood through Kurt that Finn's dad had died when he was still young and could see that the subject was still a painful one for the woman.

"After his father passed away there were times when I wasn't sure if I could do it. But he made it easy. I mean it was still scary and hard but the loving him part, that was easy. I was always so worried that the absence of a male role model or father figure would hurt him. Well maybe it has. I know he missed out on a lot of father son stuff. But all in all I think he's turned out just fine even if I do say so myself." She finished proudly.

"I don't think Finn would swap you for anyone." Rachel said sincerely knowing with every part of her that it was true.

"Thank you dear." Mrs Hudson replied patting Rachel softly on the hand not bothering to hide the tears that Rachel's words had brought to her eyes. "But I was supposed to be learning all about you and instead I've been talking all about myself. Just between the two of us I've been curious about you for a while. The way Finn has talked about you for weeks made me a bit surprised he stayed with Quinn so long. He always had more to say about you then he did about her, not that Quinn isn't a perfectly nice girl."

Rachel was surprised to hear her say that about Quinn. Understanding the uncomfortable look Rachel was sending her way Mrs Hudson confided.

"I know Quinn's made mistakes. Big ones. And I can't say that I'm not mad about what she put my son through. But she's _so_ young and those parents of hers." The disgust in her voice at the word 'parents' was all too clear and left Rachel in doubt as to what Mrs Hudson thought about Mr and Mrs Fabray.

"Bottom line she made some really bad decisions but she's still a kid having to deal with a situation she was in no position to be able to handle."

Rachel didn't know if it was her place to say anything but she still felt a little guilty about her role in Finn discovering the truth and Quinn's life further unraveling. Quinn had said that she didn't blame Rachel but still perhaps here was a chance to make amends.

"Quinn thinks you hate her. Or she thinks you should hate her. I could tell she really really wanted to come. I know she still cares about Finn. But I don't think she wanted to upset you. Even more than you would already be upset I mean." Rachel cautiously said.

Mrs Hudson carefully considered this before sighing and saying wearily,

"I don't hate her Rachel. I never hated her. Would you do me a favor?" She asked and off Rachel's nod continued, "Would you tell Quinn that I don't hate her and as soon as we find out a bit more about Finn's condition she's welcome to come.......Noah too." She began to shake her head and a wistful smile appeared on her face.

"Those boys Rachel. Thick as thieves the pair of them. Always up to something. More often than not mischief but never anything really bad you know. At heart they were good boys. I think it was harder for Noah because..well.. his dad _chose_ to leave. Anyway would you tell them that from me?"

"Certainly Mrs Hudson." Rachel knew that this would be a tremendous weight off both Quinn and Puck's shoulders. It wasn't forgiveness from Finn himself but it was the next best thing.

At this point Mr Schue returned with their beverages. They thanked him and Mrs Hudson filled him in on what they had been discussing.

"Rachel was just about to tell me all about herself." She cheerfully informed Mr Schuester. "However I'm not sure she can do that with her teacher here so it appears you've saved her the ordeal of being quizzed by me."

"Yes thank you Mr Schue you know how much I hate talking about myself." Rachel joked winking at Mr Schue who almost choked on his drink obviously taken by surprise that Rachel could poke fun at herself.

Just then the door to the waiting room opened and a bespectacled white coated woman walked in.

"Mrs Hudson. We've got Finn settled and comfortable. He seems to be doing fine but obviously we'll keep a close eye on him. I can take you up to see him now if you'd like." The doctor smiled.

"Yes thank you so much doctor. Oh..this is his teacher and a friend of his. They came to see how he was doing." Mrs Hudson said.

"That's nice. Though perhaps at the moment it might be best to restrict the visitors to just yourself. Provided all goes well tonight they should be okay to visit tomorrow if they want." The doctor said kindly.

"Tomorrows fine." Mr Schue confirmed. "Mrs Hudson if there's anything you need just let me know and I'll make sure it's done. Let me leave you with my phone number." He quickly scribbled down the number and handed it to Finn's mom.

"I'll come by tomorrow before school if that's okay Mrs Hudson." Rachel said.

"I'd like that. Thank you." Mrs Hudson smiled before bidding them farewell and following the doctor out of the room.

Once they'd left Mr Schue put his arm around Rachel's shoulder and led her out. Her mind felt like it was going a million miles an hour. Hope would be replaced by fear then despair then she would start to feel optimistic again and the cycle would start over. But she managed to slow down and reason that it was bad yes, but it was far from hopeless. She wasn't going to count Finn out. She wasn't going to give up on him. If the positions were reversed she was sure he wouldn't give up on her. Besides part of being a star on Broadway was staying calm under pressure. In a crisis a star should shine ever brighter and Rachel was nothing if not a star. The end of this little pep talk to herself coincided with them reaching Mr Schuester's car. He hadn't said anything since they'd left the waiting room and Rachel was concerned.

"Are you okay Mr Schue?" She asked as she took her seat in the vehicle.

"What? Yeah..yeah I'm okay. Sorry...It's just...she's strong. His mom I mean. I don't know how she does it."

"Yes she's strong Mr Schue. But she's still going to need our help. We have to ensure we're up to the task. Finn is a part of glee. He's a part of all of us. We're a team and we'll get through this together."

Mr Schue smiled fondly at this.

"Of course Rachel. You're right. We'll make sure we get through this. As a team. Come on lets get back to school and let the others know what's going on."

Happy to see Mr Schue looking a little more optimistic Rachel returned to the task of thinking up ways to help with Finn's recovery and in turn lessen any burdens on his mother.

She had her goal.


	4. Chapter 4

**4/7**

**Disclaimer-No, I do not own Glee.**

Rachel turned her head to the left and strained to read the clock face on her bedside table. 4.10. 4.10 in the morning, or the night really. The last time she had checked it was 3.45 and she hadn't slept for even a second since then. In fact she'd hardly slept all night. Since leaving the hospital her positive outlook had taken a nosedive. She had managed to hold onto her natural optimism throughout the school day and even had it reinforced by the understanding of her dads who had sensed that she desperately needed to keep her spirits high.

The early evening had been spent doing research. Sitting at her laptop typing 'coma' and 'head trauma' into Google had made her falter, caught between being proactive and searching out the knowledge that would allow her to formulate a plan of action, and the dread that seeing those words appear in black typeface before her produced within her. She had always been of the firm belief that knowledge was indeed power and that one could never have too much information. Three hours later she was beginning to rethink that position.

Rachel had found a lot of information that was indeed helpful. Both about what she could expect from Finn's condition and the time frame as to his possible recovery. So in that sense the exercise had been very useful. Unfortunately so much was still unclear as to how badly Finn was in fact injured that it left a rather wide parameter as to what the prognosis could be, and not all of the possible outcomes were positive. Still, she had been able to distract herself by coming up with some suggestions for Finn's mom as to what they could do to help Finn regain consciousness.

All this activity had managed to keep the worst case scenarios from bouncing around in her brain. Scenarios that reverberated until they were so loud that she couldn't think of anything else or couldn't believe in any outcome other than Finn's death. Or Finn alive, but permanently brain damaged. But these scenarios had come to her now that she was alone in the darkened silence. The last two hours had been spent racing through them until they seemed more and more inevitable.

She looked at her clock again, 4.25. Hurriedly pushing back her covers Rachel sprang out of bed and quickly headed for the shower. For some reason crying in the shower seemed preferable to crying in her room. She didn't want any evidence of the tears she was shedding to be left in her room. The hot jets of the shower would hopefully wash away her tears and like a baptism she would be reborn. Though as she let out a last few sniffles she reflected that as a Jew she really should try to come up with a better analogy than baptism.

As she wiped away the steam from the bathroom mirror she could see the redness of her shoulders where the scalding heat had left it's mark. She forced herself to smile into the mirror just like she had a thousand times before as part of her normal pre school routine. This time the smile had a trace of genuineness to it because she was satisfied that although she had fallen apart, and had her moment of weakness, it was okay because she'd done it alone and therefore hadn't forced anyone into the role of having to take care of her.

She couldn't allow herself to fall apart in front of Mr Schue because the man was battling his own demons and guilt over Finn as it was and that wouldn't be fair. And Rachel would never forgive herself if she broke down in front of Finn's mom and forced that woman to spend one second worrying about anyone other than her son. She knew that her fathers would be only to happy to support her but they were worried about her enough as it was. No, if she wanted to be able to implement her 'Take care of Mrs Hudson and help Finn get back into tip top shape' strategy then she needed to be free from any overly concerned hands on parenting, because she was planning on spending a lot of time at the hospital.

Rachel gathered her coloring pens and a fresh sheet of paper. Fifteen minutes later she was done to her satisfaction. She removed the previous motivation notice which had simply read 'Regionals' from the frame of her Elliptical trainer before grabbing some sellotape and attaching her new poster to the now bare frame. Still clad in her pajamas she looked determinedly at the glittering goals in front of her:-

*Support Mrs Hudson (make sure she gets her REST)

*Surround Finn with stimuli

*Organize visiting rota of glee club

Nodding her head as she read each goal aloud she set the machine on the hardest level and began her workout.

Two and a half hours later Rachel was poised outside Finn's hospital room wondering whether to knock and wait or knock and enter. The woman at reception had told her that she was expected after Rachel had asked for directions to Finn's room and informed the receptionist of her name. After a moments deliberation she softly knocked on the door before announcing, "Hello. It's Rachel."

"Come on in Rachel." Was heard from inside the room.

Rachel straightened her skirt, cursing herself for the fact that she didn't seem to own even one skirt that fell below her knees, and entered the room. Here she found Finn's mom sitting on a surprisingly comfortable looking chair to the side of the room about four paces from the foot of a bed.

The bed upon which lay Finn.

Rachel managed to suppress a gasp. She had tried to prepare herself for Finn's appearance but she had suspected that all the preparation in the world wouldn't be enough when confronted with the reality. She glanced briefly at his face. His bruised face. His bruised purple face and bandaged head. Quickly she decided to concentrate on other parts of his body first. Hopefully less distressing parts of his body.

His left arm was in a cast as she had suspected and he appeared to have some sort of medical strapping on his ankle. He was lying completely still, not really moving about as he might have when merely sleeping. Rachel found herself reassured however by the way in which his chest still rose and fell and concentrated on this for a while finding comfort in the steady regular motion.

Eventually she again looked at his face and as she did summoned all her strength to prevent any tears from falling. He looked so un-Finn like and yet at the same time utterly peaceful. Rachel turned her attention to Mrs Hudson, who looked far from peaceful herself, and instead like someone who had spent the whole night up worrying. Rachel knew that the woman in front of her was in need of some rest and as far as she could tell it would fall upon Rachel to convince her.

"Hello Mrs Hudson. How's he doing?" She smiled.

"Good morning honey. He had a good night. No dramas at all. The doctors are happy with him. You just missed them. They've decided to do another scan this afternoon because they think he might well have made some progress."

Rachel was heartened by this news.

"Great!" She beamed. "What about you Mrs Hudson? Did you manage to get any rest?"

Mrs Hudson frowned. "I'm fine Rachel don't you worry about me. And please call me Carole. None of this Mrs Hudson formality. After all, I feel we know each other quite well now."

Rachel saw this for the diversion it was.

"Now Carole please don't take this the wrong way but it's my job to make sure you take care of yourself. That's what Finn would want me to do, and it's the only thing I _can_ do for him at the moment, so please let me do it. Before you protest I don't have any actual classes until midday. So how about you head home and try to get a couple of hours sleep and a change of clothes. I'm sure you'll feel better and I'll make sure I stay here with Finn so he's not alone."

Seeing that Mrs Hudson still seemed reluctant and suspecting that the woman was about to protest Rachel played her trump card.

"I was online doing a little research last night. There is a substantial amount of anecdotal evidence that in situations similar to this one it can help to have the patient be surrounded by familiar things and smells and sounds. I'm sure when he wakes up Finn would like some of his stuff close at hand. Maybe you could grab some of his things after you've had a nap. Perhaps you could see if you could locate his ipod. If the doctors approve we could play some of his favorites to him. Perhaps it would help."

Finn's mom looked hopeful but conflicted.

"Those sound like really good ideas Rachel. I had thought about that. Finn won't want to wake up to this." She said gesturing at the bare walled anonymous room around her. "But are you sure that you'll be okay here by yourself?"

"I'll be fine. Anyway Mr Schue will be stopping by soon as well. I promise if for any reason anything changes I'll call you." Rachel reassured her.

"Okay. Yes that sounds best. I'll just check with the doctor and let her know what's going on. Thank you Rachel you're a godsend. I'll be back by midday at the latest." She then took Rachel a bit by surprise by giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before hurrying out of the room after planting a kiss on Finn's head and saying goodbye to him.

Seconds later she popped her head back into the room.

"Oh Rachel I was just thinking. Do you have any recordings that would play on Finn's ipod of you guys doing any numbers? I know he'd love to hear them. I would too. I know he was particularly proud of "Don't Stop Believing'. Also I'm probably not supposed to let you know this but the song you sang solo at the competition. He said it was the purest thing he'd ever heard. I remember because it was so unlike him to say something like that. Do you have a recording of that at all?"

Rachel unsuccessfully fought her blush.

"I'll see what I can do Mrs Hudson..Carole." And with a nod the woman left for the second time.

Rachel now found herself alone with Finn and was momentarily at a loss as to what to do next. Well she knew that it was okay to talk to coma patients with opinion being divided as to whether they could hear what was being said or not. Well just in case Finn _could_ indeed hear everything she said then declarations of her undying love were out. As well as cheesy in the extreme.

She'd witnessed the scene in the movies too many times. Character A eventually declares his or her undying love for character B before character B awakes to say 'I love you too'. Cue romantic music. It seemed completely implausible to Rachel. At best character B awakes to say 'Oz?'. No, Rachel would be making no declarations of love today. On the other hand she did like to talk, so talk she would.

"Good morning Finn. Well this is quite the predicament you've gotten yourself into. Well the good news is that you're going to be waking up soon. The bad news is you've managed to break your arm and severely sprain your ankle." She began, quickly getting into her stride.

"Don't worry it's not your throwing arm. Although why you must persist in that barbaric sport I do not know. Hmm it's basketball season now though I guess. I expect you play basketball as well however seeing as you are unusually tall. I'm more concerned about what this means for glee. Yes,we did well at sectionals but between you and me the competition was less than impressive. Lets face it there are thousands of things the hearing impaired can do just as well as their less aurally challenged counterparts. Singing however is not one of them. Regionals is where the real challenge begins. Luckily we have a little time until then but we're going to need you in top shape." Rachel mused, pondering what they would have to work on first when Finn recovered, and he _would_ recover.

"Vocals will be a challenge at first because of your broken ribs. Oh, I forgot to mention that didn't I. Well, sorry to say you have three broken ribs but with a little determination you should be able to work through the soreness. The ankle sprain is more of a concern and you'll have to take a back seat during dance rehearsals but lets be honest dancing was never really your strong point was it? So if your movement is limited at first then I'm sure Mike, Matt, and Brittany can come up with some choreography around it." She decided.

"So,I know it seems bad but really we have no other option. Because let me tell you I have absolutely _zero_ intention of letting that sleazy little troll Jacob Ben Israel replace you again. A single bus ride with that slimy little toad was more than enough! To actually have to dance with him would be unconscionable." The memory of Jacob's hands on her shoulders during the long ride to sectionals causing Rachel's voice to become shrill even to her ears.

Rachel actually looked to see if she had disturbed Finn at all seeing as though her voice had gotten a little loud near the end there. But there was no change and Finn's chest still rose and fell in a slow, steady, almost hypnotic rhythm. Gathering herself she continued.

"Your incapacitation does present me with a golden opportunity to continue, or more accurately unfortunately, _start _your musical education. Now I don't have any recorded music to hand at the moment. I'll remedy that this evening but until then I'm going to talk you through some of the classics of Broadway musical theater, demonstrating myself where necessary some of the songs therein. Think yourself lucky because in years to come the chance to hear me interpreting some of the most iconic songs in history will be a heftily priced ticket indeed. Ready? Well I'm going to eschew chronology and go with artistic influence. We start of course with Streisand.."

45 minutes and a few detours later Rachel was just finishing up the first half of West Side Story when she was interrupted by a knock on the door and Mr Schuester shuffled into the room.

"Hi Rachel." He greeted her. "Finn's mom told me you were holding the fort here while she got some things from home. That's really good of you I know she really appreciates it."

Rachel was grateful for his words especially seeing as Mr Schue rarely seemed to praise her for anything other than her singing. Hopefully he would start to see that she had value as a person too.

"Thank you Mr Schue. I thought she would be reluctant to leave Finn all alone but at the same time she needed some rest so I offered to stand guard. Depending on what the doctors say perhaps we could take it in turns between us and the rest of glee club. I mean I don't know how long he'll be like.." Rachel vaguely waved her arm toward Finn's bed. Mr Schue seemed to take her point so she went on.

"I mean we don't know what the situation is with Mrs Hudson's job and even if she can get the time off she can't stay here 24 hours a day. It's not practical, nor is it healthy."

Mr Schue was nodding along to her points.

"I see you've put a lot of thought into this Rachel. I think you're right. We'll wait to see what the doctors say this afternoon and formulate a plan from there." He looked at his watch. "I've got half an hour before I have to be in school. I can sit with him if you want to get a drink or something."

All that singing had indeed left Rachel thirsty so she thanked Mr Schue and went to take a break. On her return she filled Mr Schue in on the latest regarding Finn's condition and he assured her that he'd pass the information onto glee club. Rachel let him know that she would be attending school for afternoon classes and picking up any homework she had missed from yesterday and this morning. She also asked him to let Puck and Quinn know that she needed to speak to them when she got to school. Mr Schue said that he would before bidding Rachel goodbye with a hug and telling her he was very proud of her. Rachel felt a sense of contentment which seemed entirely at odds with the current situation but instead of berating herself for it she decided to just accept it.

"Now where were we? Oh yes! West Side Story..."


	5. Chapter 5

**5/7**

**Disclaimer-No, I do not own Glee.**

Mrs Hudson had made her return at 11.45 am. After thanking Rachel yet again she had shooed her off to school but not before Rachel had promised to return later that afternoon.

In the hour since Rachel had made her entrance at school she had been stopped in corridors and tapped on the shoulder in class by all manner of people wanting to know the latest on Finn's condition. The glee kids of course, but also numerous members of the football and basketball teams, not to mention various cheerios. Also kids who didn't fit into any particular social grouping but who knew Finn either from grade school or random classes. The two students she was most eager to see however were remaining stubbornly elusive. No-one, gleek or jock it seemed, had reliable information on the whereabouts of Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman, other than the fact that they were definitely in school today. Somewhere.

Rachel eventually tracked the pair of them down, sitting together high up on the bleachers overlooking the football field. She made her way up to them, Puck visibly tightening his hold on Quinn as Rachel approached.

"Finally!" She huffed. "I've been looking for you everywhere. What are you doing up here?" Rachel asked, confusion causing her forehead to crinkle.

"Trying to get some privacy Berry." Puck angrily replied. " So if you've come to tell us how we've screwed over Finn and it should be us lying in that hospital bed not him then you can save it 'cos we've already heard it."

Rachel was taken aback to hear this. She hadn't considered that there would be additional fallout and repercussions to Finn's accident. Then again, she of all people shouldn't have been surprised by the cruelty of her peers. Shaking her head she took in the scene before her of a defiant, angry, but obviously guilt ridden Puck, and a tearful broken Quinn.

"That's not what I'm here for. I would never think that Noah." She sighed. "Did Mr Schue let you know Finn's condition?"

"Yeah. Tried to give us all some BS about things being better than expected. He's in a coma Rachel! How is that good news? Mr Schue's just being his usual clueless optimistic look on the bright side self. Him and Finn really are two peas in a pod. Well look where that kind of kumbaya attitude gets you. It gets you laid out unconscious, dying in a hospital bed!" He shouted looking completely distraught.

Rachel didn't think, she just slapped him.

"What the f...?" Puck started.

"Don't you ever say that! Shut up and listen for once in your life!" Puck was stunned into doing just that. "I don't have time for this Puck. Finn is not dying in a hospital bed. He is not dying period. Mr Schue's not trying to sell you some fairytale. I promise you Noah, he's not." Rachel softened her tone imploring him to understand and believe her.

"The doctors really think he's doing well. We'll know more for sure this afternoon. But as for now there's not one single reason to believe he won't make a full recovery." She said holding aloft her left index finger.

"Really?" Quinn spoke for the first time, poking her head out from underneath Puck's embrace.

"Really." Rachel smiled.

"Look. I spoke to his mom yesterday." Rachel said watching as both Quinn and Puck visibly winced at the mention of her. "The doctors haven't yet given the all clear for too many visitors. But when they do she told me to let you know that you're both welcome."

"She couldn't..." Quinn said.

"She could and she does." Rachel smiled gently grasping hold of both of Quinn's hands.

"She also told me to let you know that she forgives you Quinn. Both of you." Rachel said including Noah much to their amazement.

"How..?" Noah questioned.

"She knows you didn't set out to intentionally hurt him and she knows what a scary situation you were in Quinn. As for you" Rachel said addressing Puck "She talked about what you and Finn were like as kids. She hasn't forgotten all that. What happened hasn't erased everything that went before. She said you both were good boys."

"Finn maybe" Puck allowed.

"Both of you." Rachel emphasized. Puck seemed to consider this.

"So, I'm going back to the hospital this afternoon to check in on Finn and his mom. Did you want to come with me? You could wait in reception while I find out what the situation is with his condition and additional visitors." Rachel proposed.

"Would that be okay?" Quinn asked eagerly.

"I don't see why not. Of course if the doctors say no then that's that. But there's no harm in asking. But if you do come I don't want to hear or see any of this 'he's dying' garbage. I know you're scared but Finn's mom won't want to be around that kind of attitude and I won't allow it." Rachel said sternly. "Are we clear?"

Quinn was quick to agree after which both girls turned to Puck.

"Clear. I wouldn't do that to Mrs H." Puck offered solemnly.

"Okay that's settled then. I'm going back to class. Did you want to follow me to the hospital after school? We should take both cars just in case he's not allowed to see you."

As Rachel turned to leave Quinn spoke up.

"How is he Rachel? I mean you told us how he is but..um..how does he look?"

Rachel sighed. "I'm not going to lie. He doesn't look the best. I mean he's just been in a car accident. But he still looks like Finn and I dunno it's hard to imagine that he won't wake up soon. So that's got to be a good sign right?" She answered hopefully.

It was the best Rachel could manage but Quinn and Puck seemed to accept it. Rachel left them to their lofty sanctuary and descended the steps back into school.

The last part of the school day was spent much like the first and consisted of providing the latest on Finn's condition and how he was looking etc. Kurt managed to grab a quiet word with Rachel and explained why he wasn't able to visit Finn at the hospital and shared with her what had happened with his mother. Rachel surprised him with a hug and told Kurt that she knew Finn would understand and the last thing he'd want would be for Kurt to put himself through such an ordeal.

The rest of the gleeks had all, even Santana, expressed an interest in visiting their fallen teammate. Rachel explained about the doctors current instructions and said they were going to test the protocols with Quinn and Puck today but that perhaps it was best to leave it to just them for the moment. To their credit everyone understood and besides none of them had any great desire to insert themselves into any Quinn Puck drama ever again.

At the final bell Rachel quickly exited the building and made her way to the student parking lot via the football field where she could see Puck and Quinn still enveloped together on the bleachers. They were obviously looking out for her appearance because they answered her wave immediately and hurried down the steps and fell into line behind her.

"Ready?" Rachel turned and questioned.

"Ready." Puck answered seriously.

Fifteen minutes later Rachel was leading them into the reception area of the hospital. Pointing them to a couple of seats before telling them she'd be back to let them know the situation shortly. She then made her way up to Finn's room. She passed a couple of doctors who had clearly just left Finn's room and gently knocked and then entered his room. Only to be confronted with the site of Finn's mom standing by his bedside in tears.

"No!" Rachel exclaimed.

Mrs Hudson's head snapped round to face Rachel. "What?" Seeing the distress on Rachel's face she rushed to explain. "Oh honey no, no. These are happy tears sweetheart. It was good news." She said laughing now through her tears.

"I thought....I thought..." Rachel managed. Good news? Good news!!

"I'm sorry to scare you like that..."

"Don't worry about that Mrs Hudson. What did the doctors say?" Rachel asked her previous despair already forgotten.

"They did another scan. The swelling around his brain has all but receded. No surgery required. They said it's just a matter of time until he wakes up. Days probably rather than weeks. Of course there are no guarantees but this is the best we could have hoped for. They said it was a remarkable recovery."

"Of course it was!" Rachel bubbled. "It's Finn. He is remarkable. Just you wait and see." Tears overtook her and Mrs Hudson hugged her to her side.

After she had calmed down she admitted, "I was so scared Mrs Hudson. Finn is...Finn is..I don't know what I'd do without him."

Mrs Hudson placed a kiss on the top of her head. "You and me both Rachel. You and me both." She agreed.

Rachel wiped her tears away before remembering about her companions sitting in reception.

"Did the doctors mention anything about more visitors?" She asked.

"Yes. They liked your suggestion of music and said that he could have visitors though it was best to restrict them to a couple at a time. Why?"

"Um..It's just that Quinn and Puck are downstairs in reception. I told them I'd let them know what was going on and go get them if Finn was allowed visitors, and if it was alright with you of course." Rachel added.

"Tell you what Rachel. Why don't you let me collect them. I wanted to have a little chat to them both anyway. Meanwhile could you do me a favour and set up Finn's music player. I brought it and his mini speakers but I have no idea what goes where."

"Consider it done Mrs Hudson." Rachel beamed happy to have something to do.

"Thanks. And it's Carole." She reminded.

Ten minutes later Finn's ipod was all hooked up and Journey's version of 'Don't Stop Believing' was softly playing. Rachel looked up to see Puck and Quinn just inside the doorway with Mrs Hudson standing behind them smiling with a comforting hand resting on each of their shoulders. Quinn was still sniffling and Puck had a strange mixture of determination and relief on his face, but both looked 100% better than they had when Rachel had encountered them on the bleachers earlier.

"I'm going to leave you kids to it. I'll be back in half an hour." She said cheerfully.

Puck stayed by the door while Quinn took a couple of hesitant steps towards the bed.

"Did you want me to leave you alone?" Rachel asked. Quinn shook her head no.

"He looks so broken." Quinn whispered.

"He looks like he was run over by a truck." Puck said sardonically.

"Noah!" Quinn hissed.

"Sorry sorry." He quickly apologized. "It's just....jesus.....look at him......He's gonna be okay right. I mean his mom said he was recovering." Puck sounded skeptical as if he was unsure of the doctors opinion.

"He is recovering." Rachel said. "Today is a good day." She sent Puck a comforting smile.

Quinn leaned down next to Finn and took hold of his right hand. She leaned in to whisper into his ear. Rachel couldn't hear what was said but it wasn't hard to guess that it was the apology that Finn hadn't wanted to hear at sectionals. After a couple of minutes Quinn joined Rachel at her position next to the ipod.

Puck moved further into the room. He seemed unsure. Glancing between Finn and Rachel and Quinn. Rachel soon realized that he was debating whether to take the Quinn route and whisper what he had to say into Finn's ear, which Puck no doubt thought was a bit of a chick move for a guy. Whispering in a dudes ear? The alternative was letting Quinn and Rachel hear what he wanted to say. He chose to keep his distance and speak aloud.

"I'm sorry man. So sorry. I promise that somehow I'll make this up to you. I'll have your back. Always. From now on I'll never let you down again. I swear on my sisters life! As far as Quinn goes, whatever she wants or needs I'll be there for her, and the baby. I'll take care of them just like you would have. I promise. You have my word. So...so..wake up soon bud. I miss you."

Quinn sniffled but she and Rachel tried to act as if they hadn't heard anything. Puck wasn't buying it and snorted, "Something to say Berry?"

"Good job Noah." Rachel replied sincerely whilst Quinn gave him a hug and a smile. The rest of the period awaiting Mrs Hudson's return was spent with Puck, at Rachel's and Quinn's prompting, relating some of his and Finn's 'youthful indiscretions' as Puck termed them.

Upon Mrs Hudson's return Quinn and Puck departed letting her know that they'd stop by at the same time tomorrow. Rachel chatted to Mrs Hudson for another couple of hours filling her in on her idea of a rotation of visitors to fill in the slack when Carole needed a break so that Finn was never alone. As Rachel left she informed Carole that Mr Schue would be by in about an hour with some non hospital food for her.

This time her hopeful outlook lasted all the way home and well into the evening. Her last thoughts as she prepared for bed were that today had been an excellent day, and that if Finn didn't wake up tomorrow she was sure it would be soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**6/7**

**Disclaimer-No, I do not own Glee.**

Carole Hudson was dreaming. She was dreaming about George Clooney. And lawn furniture. And hamburgers. In the dream, George was sitting in a lawn chair eating a hamburger contentedly, basking in glorious sunshine. It should have been perfect because Carole was in the dream as well. Unfortunately dream Carole was watching this scene of Clooney at rest through powerful binoculars many thousands of yards away standing freezing cold alone in the pouring rain. So Carole really wasn't all that unhappy to wake from her slumber. Although even the letdown of such a dream was preferable to the reality that greeted her. Lying in an uncomfortable hospital chair, covered in a blanket, with music softly emanating from the speakers connected to her sons ipod. The time was 2.45a.m so she had actually managed a couple of hours of sleep.

She was debating whether to try for another hour of sleep when she was disturbed by a moan. It caused her to start with fright, before she realized that the noise was coming from Finn's bed. Quickly turning off the ipod next to her to make sure she wasn't mistaken, Carole threw her covers to the floor and in two strides was at Finn's bedside. She could see his eyelids flickering rapidly, far more rapidly than she had observed up to this point in her vigil. She considered whether or not to press the 'call' button to summon some assistance. Before she could Finn started coughing and opened his eyes.

"Finn! Finn honey can you hear me? Sweetheart it's okay, you're okay. You're okay. Everything's going to be fine." She babbled somewhat hysterically.

Finn's mind was foggy. He felt like he was still partially dreaming. Caught somewhere between sleep and consciousness. He was pretty sure his eyes were open but as yet he was seeing nothing. As his eyes started to focus he realized that something was wrong. Very wrong. What was different? This wasn't what he felt like normally when he woke up. A second later he had the answer, or part of the answer.

He ached. His whole body ached. And parts of it seemed bound. His leg didn't feel like his leg. For a fraction of a second he thought it was gone! That his leg wasn't there! He quickly overcame the rising panic within him when he realized that he could feel pain in the leg, and pain meant it was still there. Something was obviously wrong but he still had his leg and he almost wanted to cry from relief.

His head hurt, and at the same time felt heavy. Or heavier. He had the sensation you get from swimming when water gets in your ears and your head starts to feel like an alien part of your body. He was distantly aware of someone repeating his name, the sound getting closer and closer. That's mom he told himself. That's mom! After a couple of seconds Finn was able to fully focus his eyes and his mind began to slowly kick into gear.

He tried to call out to his mom but as far as he could tell his mouth made no movement. His jaw felt heavy, leaden. Things weren't happening automatically. It was like he had to think carefully of each action before his body would try to attempt the task. His eyes were working but he could only look directly above himself at the white ceiling overhead. He wasn't in his room at home that was for sure. This ceiling was brighter and cleaner than the one in his room. Finn decided to concentrate on getting his mouth working, his voice working, before he would try getting his head to move around so that he could look about him.

He could now hear his mom crying in between her words. After what felt like minutes but was in reality only a couple of seconds he managed to smuggle his words out.

"Mom." He croaked. "Mom don't cry. What's wrong?"

Carole hadn't known that she had been crying until Finn mentioned it. The sound of his voice and the fact that he was speaking softly, but clearly, and in an understandable coherent manner only served to make her cry even harder. She leaned forward and began kissing any part of his head not covered in bandages or stitches.

"Oh Finn Oh Finn. It's gonna be okay honey. Nothing's wrong honey I'm just happy. Really really happy. You've been in an accident sweetheart but don't worry because you're going to be just fine."

Carole then pressed the button that would summon some medical help. Finn seemed a little disoriented but was able to make himself understood. When his mom had mentioned an accident he was able to vaguely recall swerving off the road and into a ditch. It was raining so he was going ten miles an hour below the maximum speed limit just like his mom had told him. Had he lost control? No. Another car had tried to overtake him. That's right! Another car started to overtake him, but there was a car coming in the opposite direction and the overtaker had to swerve back towards Finn. Finn had turned his wheel sharply to the right and he was braking and falling and rolling and falling and crashing and falling falling falling.

"I drove into a ditch yeah? Was anyone else hurt?"

"No, no-one else was hurt honey. Don't worry about that. It wasn't your fault, there were witnesses, you didn't do anything wrong." Carole sought to reassure her son.

Maybe he should have been going faster. Maybe he should have been going slower. Maybe he should have held his line. Maybe if he had he would have died. Maybe if he had the driver of the car who was trying to overtake him would have died. No-one else was hurt and he was alive so maybe things worked out okay. But his whole body still ached.

"Is the car totaled?" Finn asked fearing the worst. Asking about the car was something he could bear to ask about. He wasn't ready to ask why he ached yet. He'd have to work himself up to that.

Carole let out a breath of laughter.

"Yeah. Totally."

"Totally?" Finn asked.

"Totally totaled honey." Carole laughed, because at this point the state of his car was of no concern to her whatsoever. In any case the insurance of the at fault driver would easily cover a new car for Finn. At the moment however Finn looked adorably bummed out.

Before they could continue their conversation a nurse came in.

"You needed me Mrs Hudson?"

Carole bestowed her best and brightest smile on the helpful young nurse.

"My son's decided to join us." She beamed.

The nurse matched Carole's smile and informed her that she would fetch a doctor.

Thirty minutes later after many questions and much shining of lights into Finn's eyes, which by the way he found extremely annoying, and during which his mom hovered anxiously in the background, the impromptu exam seemed to be over. Over the course of the examination Finn had started to feel more like himself and less like he had been the hapless victim of a body snatching.

He slowly began to understand that not his whole body ached. His right leg felt okay and it was only his left ankle that was sore. He had managed to move his head enough to be able to observe the cast adorning his left forearm. His head still felt like..well ..like he'd been dropped on it to be honest, but he was able to tell the doctor his name, date of birth and who the president was. Finn didn't get why there were pop quizzes in hospital but the doctor seemed happy with his answers so he guessed he passed. It didn't stop her flashing that annoying light in his eyes every few minutes though.

"Well Mrs Hudson. Your son is recovering nicely. Very nicely indeed. We'd like to do a precautionary scan tomorrow morning just to make sure everything is 100% fine. But it's looking good. His pupils are reactive. There doesn't seem to be any obvious short or long term memory or language loss. There will be more tests to come I'm afraid and Finn will be with us for at least a few more days but I see no reason why he won't make a full recovery." The doctor said.

"Thank you so much." Carole enthused.

"Yeah. Thanks doc." Finn added.

"My pleasure. It's always nice to be able to give good news. Now I'll leave you to both get a little more rest. The scan will be some time after 10am. Goodnight." With those words the doctor along with the nurse departed.

"You hear that? You'll be as good as new in no time." Carole smiled.

Finn however was less sure. There was something that had been bothering him since he had woken up but he'd been reluctant to share it with the doctor.

"Err mom. I probably should have said something to the doctor. But...she didn't say anything about patients when they wake up...um...like.....hearing voices?" Finn hesitantly asked.

Carole was immediately concerned.

"Voices? What kind of voices?" She asked.

Finn fought passed his embarrassment and decided to come clean.

"Er..when I first woke up I..er..could have sworn I heard Rachel's voice. You don't know her but you know Rachel from glee that I told you about." He confessed.

Carole was confused for a second before laughing as she realized just what it was that Finn had heard. Pointing to the ipod at the side of the room.

"You did hear her you goof. She suggested we bring your ipod in here to play you some familiar music. I asked Rachel if she had any songs glee club had done and she put together a..what did she call it..oh a playlist!" She explained.

"Rachel did that?" Finn queried, relieved that he hadn't been hearing things, but puzzled that Rachel had apparently been to visit him.

"Oh Finn she did that and so much more. I'm not sure how I would have got through the last few days without Rachel. She was an absolute treasure. And that nice Mr Schuester was wonderful as well. I can't remember having teachers who were so willing to put themselves out as Mr Schuester was when I was in school. Not too hard to look at either." She winked.

"Mom!" Finn protested, which Carole took as a sign that he was indeed on his way to a full recovery.

It sounded as if Rachel had really come through for him. Again. God he hoped she was alright. He knew that if their positions were reversed and she'd been lying in a hospital bed unconscious he would have been a complete wreck. Even the thought of something happening to her made him feel sick down to his stomach.

The thing was though that while Finn would have felt terrible would he have been able to come through for her like she had for him. He suspected he wouldn't have had the first idea about what to do to make her dads feel better with helpful suggestions like the music one. Could he have supported her dads like she'd obviously supported his mom? She was a girl in a million. A billion!

"So Rachel was here a lot?" He asked.

"She certainly was. Here making sure I was looking after myself, checking your progress, coming up with helpful suggestions, hence your ipod." Carole said gesturing towards the electronic device.

"We had some really good talks me and your Rachel." Carole hinted.

"She's not my Rachel mom!" Finn complained, while at the same time asking himself 'why isn't she?'

"Well she could be!" She disagreed. "I haven't forgotten the way you talked about her these last couple of months."

Finn blushed, embarrassed that his mom was bringing up the fact that he may have run off at the mouth just a tad on the subject of the many wonders of Rachel Berry.

"Finn you talked about her all the time. How great she was, how talented, how out of your league she was. Which by the way is complete nonsense. You sell yourself short honey. No-one, and I mean no-one, is out of your league. You're Finn Hudson." Carole said defiantly.

"Yeah well so what?" Finn mumbled sulkily.

"Don't give me so what. The point is I used to think you were exaggerating about what a great girl Rachel was. That maybe you were just being swayed by a great voice and teenage hormones. But honey you were right. Rachel is exactly what you said she was. More."

"Exactly!" Finn exclaimed. "That's why I don't stand a chance. Maybe once but too much stuff has happened."

"Finn you're not taking into account one thing." Carole smiled.

"Oh and what's that? Do tell." Finn said snarkily. He loved his mom but this conversation was humiliating. He'd blown his chance with Rachel and he didn't want to have to admit to her just how he'd done it. She'd be so disappointed in him for how he'd treated Rachel.

"Finn sweetie," Carole said gently "you're not taking into account that the girl is completely in love with you."

"What! She..she..can't be......Really?" Finn spluttered. "Wait. Did she actually say that?" This sounded more like wishful thinking on his moms part then reality.

Carole gestured dismissively.

"She didn't have to! It was there in how she talked about you, how she looked after me, in every look she gave you. It was there Finn I promise you. Look I know you've been hurt lately. So you know I wouldn't say this to you if I thought there was any chance I was wrong, if there was any possibility of you getting hurt again. She loves you Finn that's not in question. The question is what are you going to do about it?"

Well that certainly _was_ the question. And really, Finn mused, that had always been the question. What was he going to do about it?

"I don't know." He admitted.

Carole patted his knee.

"Well it's about time you decided my boy. But think carefully and be sure, because that girl deserves someone who _is_ sure about her. And so do you. I promised I'd give Rachel a call as soon as there was any news. She's coming in before school anyway but she'll be eager to hear you're awake."

Finn panicked. He needed time to think. He wanted to say the right thing for a change. Also fragments of conversation were coming back to him. Conversations that he hadn't taken part in but were somehow directed at him. He was gradually getting the impression that he knew far more about Broadway musicals then he had previously. He needed some time to strategize.

"Mom. Let her sleep. It's.." He peered at the led display of his ipod, "It's 4am. She'll be here in a few hours anyway. It'll be a nice surprise." He gave his mom his best smile. Well the best one he could come up with considering his jaw was still a little swollen.

"Well.." Carole was unsure.

"Please mom." He wheedled.

"She does deserve a good nights sleep. I guess we could let her sleep. Speaking of which why don't you try to catch a couple of hours of _normal_ sleep for a change. Tomorrow's going to be a big day. " She instructed.

Feeling that he'd got his own way over Rachel Finn decided to comply with his mother's wishes. After all his mom was right. Tomorrow would indeed be a big day.


	7. Chapter 7

**7/7**

**Disclaimer-No, I do not own glee.**

**AN-Big thanks to everyone who reviewed it is much appreciated. Big thanks as well to those that read but didn't review 'cos that's cool too:)**

Rachel strode purposefully through the entrance of the hospital, a smile on her face and a song in her heart. She'd just had her first nights uninterrupted sleep since the news of Finn's accident had broken. She was feeling strangely upbeat. Well, not so strangely in light of the good news they'd received yesterday. But still, she didn't want to get her hopes up too much. After all Finn was still unconscious, and although the prognosis had him waking up in days rather than weeks, there were still no guarantees. No guarantee also that he would awaken completely recovered with no residual brain damage. Berating herself for swinging from overly optimistic to gloomily pessimistic Rachel regathered herself, put on a smile for Mrs Hudson, and entered Finn's room.

Only to met with no Mrs Hudson.

Instead the sounds of Barbra Streisand belting out 'Don't Rain On My Parade' greeted her from Finn's ipod, the volume rather louder than they usually had it. She hurried over, and was leaning down to lower the volume, when she was startled by a voice.

"You know. I think I still prefer your version."

Rachel could have sworn her heart actually stopped for a couple of seconds, before she spun around to face the source of the comment. There he was. Finn. Finn awake. Alert. And grinning like a fool at her. Forgetting about his broken ribs, sprained ankle, broken arm, and bandaged head Rachel gasped and launched herself at him. Attaching herself firmly to his side.

Finn winced as he felt the pain of his busted ribs but figured it was a small price to pay for being able to hold Rachel like this. He tried to comfort the soon sobbing girl.

"Hey now Rach. Can't get rid of me that easily. We've got regionals ahead. Not gonna let you get all the glory." He joked.

Rachel just cried even harder. Her fears that Finn might have suffered permanent brain injury appeared unfounded. He was joking with her and could clearly remember all about her, and glee.

Finally in between sobs she managed to speak.

"Finn I was so worried. We all were I mean. Mr Schue and Kurt and Brittany. All the glee club. Loads of people at school asked about you and sent their best wishes. And your mom..oh your mom!" She exclaimed. "Does she know you're awake? We've got to find her. She's hardly left your side Finn. She loves you so much." Rachel rattled through her words at a mile a minute.

Finn used his good arm to rub soothing circles on Rachel's back and decided to take a small risk and planted a kiss on top of her head for good measure figuring he may just get away with it.

"Rach slow down. My mom knows I'm awake. I woke up in the middle of the night. Got a full check up. Got the all clear scan to come later this morning but the doctor isn't concerned at all." Finn explained.

"Why didn't you call me?" Rachel asked, leaning back, in order it seemed to conduct her own visual examination of Finn.

"Don't blame mom. She said that she promised to call you. I wanted you to get a good nights sleep. Mom said you've been putting in long hours in between school and here and coma research." He said with a grin. "Besides I thought it would be cool to surprise you."

This earned Finn a bony elbow in the ribs which caused him to groan and in turn led to Rachel apologizing for the next few minutes. Once Finn had assured her he was alright Rachel returned to complaining about not being informed straight away about his 'miraculous' (her word) recovery. Finn racked his brain to come up with something to get him back in her good books.

"How about I let you break the news to glee club today. You've got practice first thing yeah?" Finn offered.

Rachel pulled away from his side beaming, his suggestion obviously appealing to her.

"Oh Finn that would be great! Can I?" She asked eagerly.

"Sure" Finn laughed. "Um.. could you come back here after school though. You could let the others know that if they want to stop by later that would be cool. But to leave it till early evening if that's okay. I'd um ..like to speak to you alone before the others start dropping by if that's cool with you."

Rachel was intrigued as well as nervous. Finn was being uncharacteristically mysterious. Why did he want her alone? Rachel hated surprises but could see that Finn was reluctant to give her any more information at this time.

Finn, knowing only to well Rachel's view on surprises, decided to change the subject before her curiosity got the better of her.

"Rach do you think you could pass a couple of messages on for me at school?" He asked.

"Sure." She replied. "What are they?"

* * *

More by accident than design Rachel timed her entrance into the choir room perfectly. A quick scan of the room showed everyone was present and correct. Mr Schue was standing by the piano about to start things off, with the rest of glee club seated opposite him.

"Rachel." He greeted her. "I wasn't sure if you were coming in this morning."

"He's awake!!" She announced, practically vibrating in place with a wide smile on her face.

There was a seconds silence followed by uproar.

Kurt was hugging Mercedes. Brittany was jumping up and down on the spot causing Santana to roll her eyes at her before she joined in with her bouncing friend. Matt and Mike exchanged knuckle bumps. Tina's attempt to hug Artie had ended up with her sitting in his lap. Neither of them appeared to be complaining. Mr Schue was stood stock still turned slightly away from the group trying to avoid them seeing him letting loose a few tears. He was unsuccessful.

Puck and Quinn meanwhile rushed across to Rachel.

"He's awake?" Puck sought to confirm.

"He's awake!" Rachel beamed.

"And everything's okay? With his head I mean." Quinn clarified.

"Yup all fine. He's having another scan today but it's just a formality. He can talk just fine and he still knows his times tables...well as much as he did before." Rachel laughed.

Puck and Quinn shared a relieved chuckle.

"He also wanted me to pass on a message to you both."

Puck and Quinn's cheerful expressions changed into fearful ones. Rachel quickly sought to allay their fears.

"He told me to tell you thanks for coming to see him."

"You told him?" Puck questioned. Rachel shook her head no.

"You mean he could..he heard?" Quinn asked in wonder.

"Apparently so." Rachel answered. "He wanted both of you to do him a favor if you could."

"Anything." Puck said.

"Well, Puck, he's going to be out of action because of his arm, ankle and ribs for a while but when he does try to start getting back into things he wondered whether you'd be willing to help him with his rehab. He said you're the man as far as workouts go. He wanted to know if he could count on you." Rachel emphasized the last sentence making sure there could be no misunderstanding of the subtext of Finn's words.

An obviously choked up and emotional Puck could only manage a grateful nod of acquiescence.

Rachel next turned to Quinn.

"Quinn. Finn said that he doesn't know what you've finally decided to do about the baby. But whatever decision you end up making he hopes you can be happy and that your daughter is healthy. He doesn't hate you, and if you give him a little time he hopes you can be friends one day."

Rachel had been more than a little surprised when Finn had entrusted these tasks to her. He had explained that he knew that Rachel would say things better than him. That even though he really did mean the things he had her say, he was still a bit fearful that when he actually saw them some residual anger might lead to him saying things he didn't truly mean. He didn't want to punish them anymore. He just wanted everything to be over with. Seeing the reactions his words had provoked made her certain that he had done the right thing. In fact she wasn't sure if she had ever been prouder of him.

Leaving a tearful Quinn to be comforted by Puck, Rachel sought out Kurt, managing to remove him from Mercedes' side for a quiet talk.

"Hey Kurt. Finn said to let you know that he understands if you can't make it out to the hospital to see him. He said it's cool and he'd catch you when he's out."

Kurt looked thoughtful.

"You know what?" He said. "That's okay. I think it would be good to go to the hospital for something happy. Get a least one good memory to go along with all the bad."

Rachel decided to take what for her was a rare opportunity and gave Kurt her very best hug much to his apparent amusement.

"Finn said he'd be ready to receive visitors around 6pm so if you wouldn't mind organizing something with the others that would be great." Rachel suggested.

"Aye aye captain." Kurt saluted sarcastically but the twinkle in his eyes let Rachel know he was only kidding around with her.

Looking over her shoulder Rachel shouted.

"Hey Mr Schue I don't know about everyone else, but I'm in the mood for singing!"

Thus began one of the most joyous practices in the history of glee.

* * *

In between glee practice and being stopped by half the student body wanting the latest update on Finn, Rachel had managed to keep from thinking about what Finn had in store for her later that afternoon. Later that afternoon had rapidly become now however, and with a last deep breath Rachel again entered Finn's hospital room.

Finn was again alone, like last time. This time though he was wide awake and appeared to be stroking an imaginary pet.

"Ah Ms Berry I've been expecting you." He declared in some strange accent.

Rachel was confused, not to say worried. Had there been brain damage after all? Finn sensed her confusion.

"James Bond? Don't tell me you've never seen a Bond movie Rachel. Ah man you're killing me here. And to think you're the one who thinks I'm missing out on a cultural education." Finn exclaimed, clearly affronted with this gap in Rachel's knowledge.

"You can't equate Bond with..with..with..Billy Elliot!" She declared triumphantly.

"Why not?" Finn argued.

"You just.... can't." Rachel decided.

"Well, I think that you should continue my lessons on all things Broadway, and I can introduce you to less musical entertainments. Be thankful I'm not starting you with sports." He added.

Rachel huffed but couldn't help laughing.

"Do you even remember what I've taught you so far? I mean you have a pretty good excuse seeing as you were unconscious at the time." She teased.

"Hey! I remember everything. For instance I remember that even though I was lying, _near death_, in a hospital bed." Finn decided to exaggerate. "Despite that, you still thought it was okay to totally dis my dancing. That was cold Rachel." He frowned, pretending to be hurt.

Rachel reacted by covering his mouth with her hand lest he mortify her with any other revelations. Thank god she hadn't given in to temptation and declared her undying love.

"You heard that?" She squeaked.

Finn could only nod his head up and down. Rachel uncovered his mouth.

"I heard everything." He confirmed. "For instance you really really don't like Jacob Ben Israel." He shook his head pretending to be shocked.

"Can you blame me?" Rachel countered. Finn merely shrugged.

"Don't tell me you like the creep?" Rachel exclaimed outraged.

"Hey, he may be a creep." Finn smiled. "But you've got to hand it to him."

"What?" Rachel asked baffled.

"The guy has excellent taste." Finn's smile had transformed into what could only be described as a smirk.

Rachel felt the blush flush her whole body. It had been a while since Finn had said anything remotely like that to her. She was sure her reaction to his words was clear to see. As she attempted to collect herself Finn continued.

"Jacob obviously recognizes the most beautiful girl in school when he see her. The most beautiful and the most talented." Finn said to her astonishment. "What he doesn't realize is that despite the fact that she's got this enormous talent it still seems small when you place it next to her heart. 'Cos as beautiful as she is, and believe me she is beautiful, and as talented as she is, and believe me she is talented, it's nothing compared to what a good person she is. What a loyal caring friend she is. She's the best person I've ever known and I'm so lucky that she's in my life. I've made a lot of mistakes with her, and let her down way too many times, but still she's always been there for me. And for my mom. I think she's amazing and I'm gonna make sure she knows it. That's for sure." Finn finished, grateful he'd managed to get through it all in one go.

Rachel concentrated hard on the wall to the right of Finn's head. Unable to look at him for the moment. Afraid that if she did she would start crying. Afraid that that if she looked at him he would be asleep or unconscious and that this all would have been nothing more than a wonderful wonderful dream. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned her head to look at Finn. To look at an awake alert Finn who had an incredibly earnest, yet fearful, expression on his face.

"You mean that?" Rachel whispered.

"Every word." He solemnly vowed.

Rachel began to feel slightly more confident that this was a wonderful reality rather than a wonderful dream.

"Been practicing that for a while?" She asked knowingly.

"'Bout 2 months." Finn answered seriously.

"Those mistakes you mentioned?" Rachel queried.

"Yeah."

"You're not making them now." She said quietly.

"'Bout time." Finn said.

Rachel leaned closer to Finn almost joining him on the bed.

"What happens next?" She breathed.

Realizing that things were going better than he had even dreamed Finn decided to go for broke.

"Well if it's okay with you we could go on a date. How about tomorrow?"

Rachel giggled.

"Tomorrow!? Finn you're in the hospital!" She grumbled.

"So?"

"So? So? So maybe I shouldn't even be agreeing to this. I mean aren't I supposed to be playing hard to get or something. I'm doing it all wrong. I've liked you for _ages_ and now that you've suddenly decided that you want me I just fall at your feet. It's ridiculous!" She moaned.

"I've always wanted you Rachel. Always. I've lied to myself about a lot of things these past months but I've never lied to myself about that. It's always been you Rach. I swear. And you know what? I'm pretty sure it's always gonna be you. You're it Rachel Berry. So you can play hard to get if you want. I deserve it. But I'm not gonna give up. And just for the record, if anyone's going to be falling at anyone else's feet, it's gonna be _me_ falling at _yours_." Finn promised.

Rachel was silent for the longest time. She just looked Finn straight in the eye for what seemed like an age as if all the answers to her many questions could be found there. Finn stood unwavering before her gaze. Finally she seemed to find the answers she sought.

"Fine. Tomorrow it is. I'll bring my laptop, we can continue your education. I'll bring 'Funny Girl' and you can learn that while I am flattered by your praise, I am not yet Barbra Streisand." She declared.

"I don't see why you're in such a rush for our first date anyway. These are hardly ideal circumstances." Rachel complained.

"I've waited long enough. I know you'd call it a cliché but life's too short. I'm gonna do what makes me happy. Besides," Finn smiled, "the sooner we're dating the sooner we're kissing."

"Oh really?" Rachel arched her eyebrow.

"Well, hopefully." Finn said.

"Just what _were_ you hoping for Mr Hudson?" Rachel asked playfully.

Finn's pouted and pushed out his bottom lip slightly trying to gain some sympathy.

"Well I'm pretty beaten up. In fact I'm pretty much one gigantic bruise. About the only part of me that isn't bruised are these," He said pointing to his lips, "they're feeling really left out and I was wondering if maybe you'd like to take care of bruising them for me."

Rachel couldn't help automatically licking her own lips as she considered his words. God what was he doing to her?

"Well we are in a hospital so treatment is close at hand should the bruising become severe. I guess for your welfare this would be the best place to embark on...on....that." She said haltingly.

"Embark away." Finn replied.

As Rachel leaned in to capture his lips in a kiss Finn couldn't help but reflect, that in his opinion, comas were entirely underrated.

The End.


End file.
